Coping With Prejudice: 1 Peter in Social - Psychological Perspective (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen Zum Neuen Testament)

Modern Social Psychology Has Devoted A Significant Share Of Its Resources To The Study Of Human Prejudice. Most Research To Date Has Focused On Those Groups That Exhibit Prejudice. However, A Number Of Recent Studies Have Begun To Investigate Prejudice From The Perspective Of Its Targets. These Studies Have Shown Prejudice To Be A Powerful Stressor That Places Unique And Costly Demands On Its Targets. They Have Also Identified A Number Of Strategies That Targets Of Prejudice Use To Cope With Their Predicaments. These Findings Hold Real Promise For Scholars Of Early Christianity, For Not Only Were Early Christians Frequently The Targets Of Religious Prejudice - They Were To Become Its Perpetrators Soon Enough! - But Much Of What They Wrote Sought Either Directly Or Indirectly To Address This Problem. In This Study, Paul A. Holloway Applies The Findings Of Social Psychology To The Early Christian Pseudepigraphon Known As 1 Peter. He Argues That 1 Peter Marks One Of The Earliest Attempts By A Christian Author To Craft A More Or Less Comprehensive Response To Anti-christian Prejudice And Its Outcomes. Unlike Later Apologists, However, Who Also Wrote In Response To Anti-christian Prejudice, The Author Of 1 Peter Does Not Seek To Influence Directly The Thoughts And Actions Of Those Hostile To Christianity, But Writes Instead For His Beleaguered Coreligionists, Consoling Them In Their Suffering And Advising Them On How To Cope With Popular Prejudice And The Persecution It Engendered. Cover Dedication Acknowledgements Table of Contents Abbreviations of Periodicals, Reference Works, Series List of Plates Introduction PART 1: Encountering Prejudice Chapter One: Locating 1 Peter: 1 Peter As an Early Christian Pseudepigraphal Letter Literary Integrity Authorship Date of Composition Original Readership Conclusion Chapter Two: Social Prejudice and Its Effects On the Nature of Prejudice An Emphasis on Group Membership A Social Attitude with Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Elements On the Causes of Prejudice Prejudice from the Target’s Perspective Conclusion Chapter Three: Social Prejudice and Persecution: On the Occasion of 1 Peter Anti-Christian Prejudice in the Early Roman Empire Official Correspondence on the Treatment of Christians Early Christian Martyrdom Stories Early Christian Apologetic Writings Various Early Non-Christian Literary and Non-Literary Sources Summary Evidence of Anti-Christian Prejudice in 1 Peter Conclusion PART 2: Coping with Prejudice Chapter Four: Ancient Theories and Practices of Consolation: Greco-Roman and Early Jewish Traditions Greco-Roman Consolation On the Nature of Greco-Roman Consolation Consolation and Philosophy Jewish Consolation Mourning and Consolation in Judaism Consolation in the Jewish Wisdom Tradition Consolation in the Jewish Prophetic Tradition Consolation in Jewish Apocalypticism Chapter Five: How People Cope with Prejudice: The Findings of Modern Social Psychology Strategies for Coping with Prejudice Problem-Focused Coping Strategies Emotion-Focused Coping Strategies Moderators for Choosing Coping Strategies The Costs and Consequences of Coping Conclusion: Coping and Consolation Chapter Six: “Born again to a living hope” (1 Pet 1:1–12): Initial Words of Consolation “To the elect sojourners” (1 Pet 1:1–2) “Blessed be God” (1 Pet 1:3–12) “God has caused us to be born again” (1 Pet 1:3–5) “In this you rejoice” (1 Pet 1:6–9) “Concerning which salvation the prophets enquired” (1 Pet 1:10–12) Chapter Seven: “Set your hope fully” (1 Pet 1:13–2:10): Coping with Prejudice through Apocalyptic “Disidentification” Reorienting One’s Values (1 Pet 1:13) Restructuring One’s Identity (1 Pet 1:14–2:10) “As obedient children” (1 Peter 1:14–16) “If you call on a father who judges impartially” (1 Peter 1:17–21) “Having purified your souls for genuine sibling love” (1 Pet 1:22–25) “As newborn infants” (1 Peter 2:1–3) “As living stones ... a spiritual house” (1 Pet 2:4–10) Conclusion Chapter Eight: “To silence the ignorance of the foolish” (1 Pet 2:11–3:12): Coping with Prejudice through“ Behavioral Compensation” “Having good behavior among the gentiles” (1 Pet 2:11–12) “Submit to every human institution” (1 Pet 2:13–3:7) Christian Behavior toward the State (1 Pet 2:13–17) Christian Behavior in the oi\ko~ (1 Pet 2:18–3:7) “Finally, you should all strive to live in harmony” (1 Pet 3:8–12) Chapter Nine: “Keeping a good conscience” (1 Pet 3:13–4:11): Coping with Prejudice through “Attributional Ambiguity” Attributional Ambiguity and Attribution Theory “But even if you should suffer ...” (1 Pet 3:13–14a) “With meekness and respect” (1 Pet 3:14b-16) “It is better to suffer as one who does good” (1 Pet 3:17–22) “... and that is why they slander you” (1 Pet 4:1–6) “The end of all things is near” (1 Pet 4:7–11) Chapter Ten: “Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal” (1 Pet 4:12–5:14): Concluding Words of Consolation Cyrenaic Consolation “Time has come for judgment to begin” (1 Pet 4:12–19) “Be examples to the flock” (1 Pet 5:1–5) “Humble yourselves under the hand of God” (1 Pet 5:6–11) “I have written to exhort and to testify” (1 Pet 5:12–14) Conclusion Plates Bibliography Reference Works Ancient Sources: Texts, Editions, and Translations Secondary Literature Cited Index Primary Sources 1. Old Testament/LXX 2. New Testament 3. Ancient Near Eastern Texts 4. Early Jewish Texts: Pseudepigrapha, Dead Sea Scrolls, Philo, and Josephus 5. Rabbinic Texts 6. Early Christian Texts 7. Greek and Roman Texts 8. Papyri, Inscriptions, and Other Non-Literary Texts Modern Authors HauptbeschreibungModern social psychology has devoted a significant share of its resources to the study of human prejudice. Most research to date has focused on those groups that exhibit prejudice. However, a number of recent studies have begun to investigate prejudice from the perspective of its "targets." These studies have shown prejudice to be a powerful stressor that places unique and costly demands on its targets. They have also identified a number of strategies that targets of prejudice use to cope with their predicaments. These findings hold real promise for scholars of early Christian